There's got to be something that they've seen in Timelord, maybe in practice, that has made Brad and the rest of the brains trust to hold Timelord back. Maybe he's struggling to adapt do the always-switch defense. I've seen him overhelp numerous times and leave his man open, maybe he's not quite on par with the defensive schemes. Must be some structural stuff that we the fans are missing.
Also Ojeleye can stretch the floor and hit the occasional 3...even Yabu. We know how much Brad values positionless basketball. Maybe Timelord needs to get some tips from Baynes on how to shoot 3s this summer.
Brad makes mistakes. I would be giving Williams playing time to get him ready for the playoffs. He is already a better player than Ojeleye.
Did anybody watch the Bucks series last year? Ojeleye's defense on Giannis was very good - easily second best after Horford. Morris didn't have a prayer, last year or last night.
Of course Ojeleye did not stop Giannis - nobody does - but O made him work and let us minimize help. From a backup wing that's outstanding. If he can also pull his man out to the three point line - which he can - it's a pretty easy decision to play him.
Yabu is a little harder to understand. I really, really don't think there is an unthinking prejudice against rookies. Tatum started in game 1 last year. Williams doesn't play because he still has so much to learn about where to be on the court and when to use that phenomenal leaping ability.
Now imagine what Williams with his length could do.
He blocked Anthony Davis' shot twice in limited minutes.
True. And RWill also blew a few rotations in that game (and others) that led to easy dunks. How does that grade out? My bet is that Brad and his staff have better numbers than anybody on this board.
But even if you like RWill better than Semi in the abstract, they defend different types of players. Semi can guard Giannis and also guards and wings. Williams really has trouble with guards and wings. So, if Williams is taking somebody else's minutes, it should be Theis or maybe Yabu.
RWill is a really promising 1 on 1 defender on the blocks, but in addition to his need to learn the team schemes he has trouble on the perimeter one-on-one. Watch his body - he rarely bends his knees to sit down into a defensive stance, and I think this is one reason he doesn't move well enough to keep guards and small forwards in front of him or channel them into help.
But see, this is the problem I have....he shouldn't be out there like that. That's not his strength, so why try to force him to be Pippen.
Switching every man every time is the problem. It should be used to surprise teams at certain times, because the roster is filled with good one on one defenders.
They can never just sit down and stop anyone cause they're too busy running around trying to find where the hell one of 5 guys went.
Too much confusion and not enough using their strength.
And wait now...so Davis is gonna be running around on the perimeter chasing the Curry's, Hardens, and Westbrooks?
That'll be another 50 win team that doesn't use their strengths.